


Cats and Flowers

by JAMES_BUCHANON_BARNES_YES



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Stucky - Fandom
Genre: Birthday, Cats, Christmas Fluff, Flowers, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-25
Updated: 2017-05-25
Packaged: 2018-11-04 15:58:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10994211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JAMES_BUCHANON_BARNES_YES/pseuds/JAMES_BUCHANON_BARNES_YES
Summary: Steve closed his sketchbook and tucked it away in the drawer of his nightstand. He lay sprawled out on his bed, one arm resting across his chest, breathing deeply, wondering. Fudge came up next to him and rubbed her soft body against his arm. He pet Fudge on the head, stroking her gently to the end of her back. Yeah, he probably did love Bucky.





	Cats and Flowers

“Really?!” He exclaimed as a black cat slunk into the room. The cat glanced suspiciously at his metallic left arm, “For all the years I’ve known you, Steve, I always thought you were a dog person.”

Steve chuckled, and sat down on the couch next to Bucky. “Well, here I am: two cats.”

“Two?” Bucky asked,

“Yes, sir. There’s fudge here, and somewhere in this apartment is Marquis. Fudgy's the more outgoing of the two, but she doesn’t exactly like people...” Steve trailed off, looking down at his cat. “You wanna meet her?” He asked his friend suddenly, scooping Fudge up off the ground in a disgruntled heap of black fur. Bucky bit his lip and hesitated. “C’mon, she won’t bite.” Steve said encouragingly. Bucky tentatively reached his right hand toward the scrambling ball of fur with green eyes. As his hand was about four inches away from the cat, she hissed loudly at him, making him retract his hand.

“I guess your cat doesn’t like me.” Bucky said, trying to hide his disappointment.

“Don’t take it personally. So far I’m the only person in the world she likes. That goes for other cats, too. The shelter said her previous owners weren’t too good to her, but I’m trying to make amends.” Steve said as he released his cat back onto the floor, where she immediately dashed into another room. He grabbed the tv remote and pulled up Netflix. “So, what do ya want to watch?”

* * *

Seven hours later it was one in the morning and they had finally finished watching the original trilogy of Star Wars.

“Wow, Sam was right, I can’t believe I haven’t seen that before. Now I only have, what, half a page left of things to do? Constantly growing of course. But, hey at least I’ve got you to do them with, so I’m not the only one completely out of the loop, right?” Bucky chuckled at that, smiling with his teeth, transforming his whole face, the smile Steve had missed for so long.

“Well, I guess I should head home now, shouldn’t I?” Bucky asked, glancing at the clock.

“Dude, it’s maybe just a bit late to drive home right now, don’t you think? Why don’t you just spend the night at my place? We can put the couch cushions on the floor like when we were kids. It’ll be fun! All you gotta do is shine my shoes, maybe take out the trash.” Steve grinned as he said this, remembering a time long ago. Bucky returned the grin, clearly remembering the exact same thing.

“Sure, sounds good.” Bucky said. Steve went about grabbing a bunch of blankets and pillows and set them up on the floor of the living room while Bucky got ready for bed.

“What, no couch cushions?” Bucky asked with a half smile on his face as he walked back into the room.

“If you want ‘em so bad, you go ahead and grab them.” Steve said, the corners of his mouth turning gently up at the sight of his close friend. Bucky grinned slyly and grabbed one couch cushion firmly in his hands, playfully hitting Steve over the head with it.

“Now if it were really like when we were kids,” Bucky said, putting the pillow on the ground, “That would have knocked you over and I’d have spent the whole night cradling your damaged skull.” Steve rolled his eyes at Bucky, remembering how small and frail he used to be.

“Well, I’ve gotta get ready for bed as well then.” Steve said, walking to his bedroom.

When Steve came back, he was no longer wearing a shirt, just a faded pair of gray sweatpants and some brown slippers.

“Whatever they used on you, it sure did something. Don’t do drugs, kids, you might end up like Captain America!” Bucky teased. Steve rolled his eyes again.

“C’mon Buck, go to sleep. It’s late.” Steve said, turning off the light and getting under the pile of blankets on the floor.

“G’night Steve.” Bucky said to his friend,

“Goodnight Buck.” Steve murmured back as he drifted off. Bucky couldn’t sleep. He was thinking of long ago, the days before the war, when he and Steve were just two friends in Brooklyn. He had to protect Steve a lot, because he was always getting picked on. He could’ve sworn Steve sought out as many fights as possible just so Bucky would have to intervene. That obviously wasn’t the case, but still, the thought was amusing to Bucky.

At some point during the night Bucky noticed the two cats walk in on velvet toes. Only someone with his senses could’ve noticed them. They curled up against Steve in the most loving, companionable way. Fudge curled up next to Steve as far from Bucky as was physically possible, against the front of Steve’s ankles. The other cat, Marquis, nestled against Steve’s chest. She was a kind’ve tan color, striped, with dark ears. Some mix of cat Bucky had never seen before. She mesmerized him, until he found himself falling asleep.

* * *

Steve awoke in the sunshine of the morning to discover a warmth against his back. He rolled over and saw that, at some point in the night, Bucky had shifted so that he was lying up against Steve. Steve was at first taken slightly aback by this, but decided to think nothing of it. Nobody could control what they did while they slept. Steve got up and got a drink of water. Then he started to mix in the eggs and milk with the box of pancake powder. After he’d mixed up the batter, he went into the other room to wake Bucky up.

“Rise and shine, Buck.” He said. When no response came, he gently nudged Bucky’s shoulder with the toe of his left slipper. Instantly, he felt cold metal curl around his ankle. Bucky’s eyes snapped open a split second later. As soon as Bucky registered that it was Steve’s ankle he was gripping, he let go and looked at the floor, his cheeks flushing red with shame.

“Sorry about that.” He mumbled up at Steve.

“No worries Bucky. I’m making pancakes, so be up soon.” and with that, Steve went back over to the kitchen of his small apartment, and poured some batter onto the griddle. A couple of minutes later, when Bucky strode into the kitchen, he was a bit shocked at the sight of Steve: still not wearing a shirt, his blonde hair rumpled from sleep, casually flipping pancakes and whistling to himself. Bucky wasn’t sure why this was such a shocking sight, but it sent goosebumps up his spine.

“Good morning, Steve.” He said, noticing coffee and pouring himself a cup.

“Good morning, Bucky. Sleep well?” Steve was, for some reason, ultimately cheery this morning.

“Yeah,” Bucky smiled sleepily, taking a sip of coffee, “I did.”

“Great! Hey, Bucky, guess what day it is?!!” Steve practically screamed in excitement,

“Ummm....” Bucky said, utterly confused,

“You seriously don’t remember it?” Steve said incredulously, “Buck, dude, it’s your birthday. You're 101! You're super old!!”

“Wait. Oh, yeah, you’re right. It is. I must’ve forgot.” Bucky mumbled and took another sip of coffee. Steve grinned and flopped the pancakes in a big stack on a plate. He swirled syrup onto the stack, whizzed some cool whip on top of that, and topped it all off with strawberries.

“The birthday feast, kind sir.” he said with a flourish, placing the plate on the table between him and Bucky, holding up two forks for embellishment. “Dig in.” He said, handing Bucky one of the forks. Shockingly, they managed to eat the whole thing in under ten minutes, then they burst into laughter at how quickly they’d demolished their monster of a breakfast.

“Thanks Steve, that was delicious.” Bucky said, wiping a bit of cool whip off his nose.

“Hang on just a second Bucky!” Steve said, “You don’t think I skipped out on giving you a present, do you??” Steve smiled wildly. He ran to a nearby closet, and pulled out a brightly wrapped box with a bow on it. “Here you go.” He said merrily.

Bucky unwrapped the box, to discover that it was the box set of three very thick books.

“It’s the Lord of the Rings series.” Steve said, “I read them awhile ago, at Clint’s recommendation. They’re really great, especially for long plane rides and stuff.” Steve explained, “I figured you’d like them as well. They’re about this little guy who has to leave his little town and become a hero so he can defeat this evil ring and stuff."

Bucky smiled as he heard Steve talk. It was obvious that Steve had put a lot of thought into this gift, and Bucky was honestly really excited to read the books.

“Thanks, Steve; I can’t wait to read them.” Bucky said, flashing that broad, toothy grin that Steve liked so much. As Bucky was leaving, it just felt kind’ve natural for Steve to move in for a hug. He and Bucky embraced for a moment, melting into each others’ warmth. Steve couldn’t help but notice that Bucky’s metal arm was hanging at his side, rather than hugging Steve as well. He made a mental note to ask Bucky about that some other time.

* * *

"I remembered a few more things yesterday while I was with Steve. First of all, I remembered a moment, after Steve’s mother’s funeral, where I had asked Steve to spend the night at my place. I’d remembered it in response to Steve saying the exact same words to me last night, and it was clear that he was thinking of the same moment. The other thing I remembered is a bit more complex. I remembered that I used to have feelings for Steve. Feelings that go beyond friendship. Before the war, during the war, I had feelings for him. I still do."

Bucky finished writing in his journal. Every time he remembered anything, he wrote it down in his journals. He was extremely protective of these journals, as they were among the few connections he had to his past life. He hated that this entry seemed more of a diary entry than a memory journal, but so be it. He didn’t say anything that wasn’t true.

* * *

Steve finished gently shaded the drawing. He’d always been good at drawing, but he never cared to share them with others very much. This one was confusing him in a number of different ways. He’d kind’ve just let his hand go along with whatever popped into his head, and he wasn’t sure what to make of it. It was a drawing of him and Bucky, side by side. The drawing showed their close friendship, but it also showed the thing that Steve had been debating since 1930, when he first met Bucky. Even now, he still wasn’t sure. But he’d always kind’ve felt like he wanted to be more than friends with Bucky.

Steve closed his sketchbook and tucked it away in the drawer of his nightstand. He lay sprawled out on his bed, one arm resting across his chest, breathing deeply, wondering. Fudge came up next to him and rubbed her soft body against his arm. He pet Fudge on the head, stroking her gently to the end of her back. Yeah, he probably did love Bucky.

* * *

The next afternoon, lacking anything better to do, Bucky decided to go to a park and start reading the first of the books Steve had given him. Something about the way Steve had described them had made Bucky hungry to start reading them. So, he put on a hoodie and a single glove on his left hand and headed out toward the quiet little park near his apartment. He found a bench in the shade of an old maple tree, and opened up to the first page.

Some people walked through the park, but not many. Mostly it was just parents whose kids had too much energy to stay indoors. To Bucky’s relief, nobody seemed to notice that he was the man from the news all those months ago. As he read, he began to lose himself in the book, and, though his senses were by no means muted, he could finally manage to ignore them. That is, until he felt something tug at his pant leg.

He looked up from his book and saw a small, skinny, redheaded girl tugging on his left pant leg. Bucky was not sure what to make of this sight, and was about to say something when the girl started talking to him.

“Don’t worry, nobody else noticed you. I’d just like to say that you’re my hero.” The little girl said quietly, so that nobody but Bucky could hear her speaking. Bucky noticed a glint of sun on the prosthesis attached to her right arm. “The other kids used to make fun of me for it,” She said, touching her prosthetic with her other hand, “But ‘cause of you they don’t so much anymore. They think it’s cool now.” She smiled shyly up at him. He could feel his heart melt at the sight of this small child. He hadn’t ever imagined that somebody as innocent as her could look up to him in any way, this half-metal monster he’d been turned into. He smiled at her.

“It’s good to hear that they don’t make fun of you anymore. I’m Bucky. What’s your name?” He said, talking gently and kindly in that voice people use with little kids.

“I’m Lacy.” She said, her red curls bouncing as she giggled, “I can’t believe I get to meet you. You’re so cool. Well, at least now that they know you’re a good guy.” She went on, talking as if he was the most famous person in the world. “Can I… can I see it?” She asked tentatively pointing to his gloved left hand, “If… if you don’t mind…” She trailed off, a little nervous. Bucky glanced around, a little apprehensive of all the parents in the park.

“Sure thing,” he said, “But just a peek, I don’t want to scare anyone.”

“Okay. I’ll keep it secret. I promise.” She said. He took off his glove and showed her his hand, opening and closing it, giving her a thumbs up. He held his metal palm up for her to high five him, and she did just that with her own prosthetic hand. They both grinned, and Bucky put his glove back on.

“Well, Lacy, it sure was great to meet you, but your parents might be getting a bit worried. You should probably go off and find them now.” Bucky said, glancing around the park.

“Yeah, you’re probably right about that. My moms tend to get worried a lot. Apparently I’m a handful!” She held up her prosthetic hand for effect, giggling at her own joke. Bucky chuckled good naturedly back at her. “Well then, Mr. Bucky, goodbye!” She said, waving with both hands before trotting off to find her parents. He watched her walk off to join two women with a stroller. Together, they continued walking down the pathway, both of Lacy’s hands held by one of her parents. Two moms Bucky thought to himself What a beautiful world we live in.

* * *

Steve slowed down momentarily on his run. He was running a different route today, felt like discovering some new parks. It just so happened that he’d spotted Bucky at this quiet little park he’d planned to run through. He paused for a moment, watching Bucky interact with a little girl. He took off his glove to reveal his metal hand for her. She high-fived it with her own prosthetic hand. Bucky put his glove back on and waved goodbye as she scampered off to the loving arms of two women. He saw Bucky open up the book he’d been holding. Steve felt a swell of joy after seeing that it was the first of The Lord of the Rings trilogy he’d given Bucky just a day ago.

Steve strode toward the park bench Bucky sat on. On the way over there, the little girl scampered by on the path. Steve smiled at her as the ran past him. Trailing behind her a short ways were the two women she’d been with earlier, holding hands and pushing a stroller down the path. They must be the little girl’s moms, Steve realized suddenly. For some reason, the idea of two moms filled him with warmth. He smiled and nodded at the women as they passed, and they smiled back. He then walked up toward Bucky, sitting on a park bench.

“Come here often?” He said with a charming eyebrow raise. Bucky looked up, smiling at the sound of Steve’s warm voice.

“Sometimes.” Bucky said, putting a bookmark into the thick book and closing it, “It’s quiet here.”

“Well, don’t let me be the one to break the quiet. But, tell me. Do you wanna come over again tonight? We can watch...” Steve pulled out a small notebook and flipped to the page he was looking for, “Ghostbusters one and two.” He finished with a smile. Bucky grinned at the thought of watching more movies late into the night with Steve.

“Sounds great. Start the movies at seven thirty?” He asked,

“Why don’t you just come for dinner? I’ll see you there at six.” Steve said, trying to look suave even though Bucky knew nothing of how he felt, so it wasn’t a date.

“Yeah, sounds great. See you then.” Bucky replied,

“Awesome,” Steve said, beginning to turn, “I’ll see ya later Buck.”

“Sure. Bye.” Bucky said, mildly disappointed, as Steve turned and started jogging once more down the path. Bucky watched him go, smiling just ever so slightly. Bucky then turned back to his book and continued reading.

* * *

Steve heard a knock on his door.

“Hang on a sec, I’m coming!” He hollered in a friendly way, putting down the spoon he’d been using to stir the spaghetti sauce. He walked over to the door, wiping his hands on his cooking apron. He worried for a moment that the apron looked stupid on him, but decided it was too late to take it off and opened the door.

When the door opened, Bucky was momentarily speechless at how Steve looked: his cheeks flushed with heat, his hair rumpled, a little bit of red sauce on his right forearm, and, to top it all off, a dirty off-white apron with faded purple flowers on it that gave Steve a very unusual feminine vibe over his chiseled, muscular torso. The apron wasn’t something that Bucky was really used to. But, he had to admit it: Steve looked hot in that apron. Steve smiled that charming, unconscious smile he sometimes had as he glanced around and then down at himself, seeming a little flustered.

“Hey Bucky.” He said breathlessly,

“Hey, Steve.” Bucky said, his voice a bit gravelly as he smiled back at Steve, “Are you cooking?” He asked incredulously, “Steve, you and I both know you can’t cook.”

“Come on in. I’m just making spaghetti; it should be almost done here in a second.” He seemed very distracted, and Bucky wasn’t sure why but he found it adorable. He couldn’t stop looking at his friend this way, and it was killing him. He walked into the kitchen and leaned against the counter casually. The way he was leaning against the counter and almost smiling through his usually extremely serious face made Steve almost lose himself. Since when did Bucky make him swoon? He sighed as he went back to cooking. Since forever.

Fudge swaggered into the room, then, when she saw Bucky, turned and walked out again, clearly disgusted at him being back in her house. Bucky watched the cat walk around like she owned the place. He didn’t understand cats. He was definitely more of a dog person, if anything. He’d thought Steve was to, because, really: Steve was the type of person anybody would’ve guessed to be a dog person. Especially if you knew him as well as Bucky did.

“Hey Buck, will you grab me a couple of plates? They’re in that cabinet right there.” Steve nodded toward the cabinet above his head, still stirring the spoon through the pot even though he’d shut the heat off. Bucky had to reach over Steve’s head, brushing his chest against Steve’s shoulder, to reach the plates. This made Steve blush feverishly. He should have gotten the plates himself.

As they sat down to dinner, Steve had forgotten to take off his apron, Bucky found this absolutely adorable. Bucky picked up his fork, but hesitated, watching Steve take his first bite. Steve’s porcelain-doll face changed with a crease between the eyebrows and his lips slightly pursed. Bucky started to laugh.

“That bad huh?” He said, referring to the spaghetti, “I told you you can’t cook.”

“Yeah, okay, you’re right. This is garbage.” Steve said, admitting defeat, “Let’s just order a pizza or something.” Bucky stifled another laugh, smirking as friends do when they really just want to kiss their friend but know they can’t.

* * *

“Alright,” Steve said as they finished their pizza, “Movie time. What did I say we were gonna watch? Ghostbusters?” he started digging through the box of movies Sam had given him a couple of months ago. He pulled out the one entitled Ghostbusters, and popped the disc into the bluray player. The previews started playing and Steve got up to make popcorn.

He came back with a bowl of popcorn in his hands, sitting down next to Bucky on the couch and placing the popcorn on his lap. Bucky scooted closer to grab a few kernels and popped them into his mouth. He didn’t scoot away again. Steve reached over and flicked the lights off, plunging to room into darkness. The two friends couldn’t fully see each other, the only light being the glow from the television.

Their hands brushed in the popcorn bowl. Both men blushed but said nothing. They just grabbed their popcorn and continued watching the comedic movie play in front of them. Marquis tiptoed silently into the room, and curled up on the floor by the couch. Steve noticed this, which was unusual because she usually refused to go in the same room as anyone but Steve.

* * *

By the middle of the second Ghostbusters movie, at around ten thirty, both Steve and Bucky were getting sleepy. Steve noticed Bucky slumping a little bit with tiredness, and thought Oh, fuck it. I can’t not. as he wrapped his right arm around Bucky. Then he realized what he’d just done. He briefly panicked, but then Bucky leaned into him and he calmed down. Steve held Bucky, and Bucky leaned against Steve, and it was all under the magical blanket of darkness that they were able to do this.

Bucky curled his legs up next to him in a childish way that made Steve feel a rush of emotion for him. Steve laid his head on Bucky and they fell asleep that way, in the darkness of the night. It was perfect, a moment left untouched between two friends who felt more for each other than either would admit to.

* * *

Bucky blinked his eyes open in the morning sunlight. Oh crap. He’d fallen asleep curled against Steve? This would require some explaining…. He carefully extracted himself from his position next to Steve on the couch. He decided that he wouldn’t bring up the topic if Steve didn’t. He went over to the kitchen and got himself a cup of water and took a sip, leaning casually against the counter once more, contemplating how he was going to get out of this one.

He felt something soft brush up against his leg, and glanced down to see Marquis staring intently up at him. Her mismatched colors were really adorable, he noticed, rather than simply perplexing. He reached down and held his right hand out, cautious that she might bite him. She leaned her head forward and rubbed it against his hand. He took this as an invitation to stroke her. She began purring as he sat down on the floor to pet her some more.

As he continued to pet the soft, velvety fur of the purring Marqui, he heard Steve’s footsteps entering the kitchen. Bucky pretended he didn’t notice Steve and continued to pet the cat. Just the thought of talking to Steve about anything right then mortified Bucky to his core. So he kept his attention on the cat.

Steve made some coffee, his back turned to Bucky to hide his blush at the memory of the previous night. He did not want to have to explain that right then. He busied himself getting the coffee into the coffeemaker, an activity that would normally take very little time. When he could finally pretend to be fiddling with the coffee no longer, he turned around to look at Bucky. Bucky was petting Marqui, who, shockingly, wasn’t running away. Even the metal arm didn’t seem to faze her. Within seconds Fudge walked in as well, and, to Steve’s absolute shock, also went over to Bucky for his attention. Fudge just let Bucky stroke along her back, no hissing, nothing. It was truly amazing. The corner of Steve’s mouth twitched up.

Watching Bucky play with his cats filled Steve with a general sense of warmth. Bucky’s hair was a wild tumble of long dark brown, thrown haphazardly around his head. Yesterday’s t-shirt and jeans were wrinkled. Yet, Bucky was beautiful. Yes, Steve was madly in love and had been for awhile. But, he’d never wanted to lose his best and only friend, so he’d stayed quiet for many years. So he was silent on this morning, as Bucky played with the cats. Still though, Steve couldn’t help but think of how Bucky had curled up against him last night, completely unguarded in a way that Bucky almost never was. It gave Steve hope.

* * *

Bucky liked The Lord of the Rings. He liked that it was about a little guy who bravely went into a far-away land to defeat evil despite all the odds being against him. He liked that Frodo was kind to Gollum, even though he had no reason to be. Gollum reminded Bucky of himself: just a regular guy who’d been turned into a monster by an evil he had no power over. He liked that Frodo was kind to Gollum despite this. Despite the fact that Gollum never redeemed himself. Despite everything, Frodo was kind to Gollum, and that’s probably what Bucky liked most about the books.

He sat on the park bench, reading, as he had begun to in most afternoons of late. Steve had a tendency of running through the park, and Lacy came there with her moms quite often. After that one, really awkward morning with Steve, everything had sort’ve melted back down to their normal friendship. It’d been a couple of weeks since then, and Bucky still flushed bright red thinking about it. He still found Steve extremely attractive, but hadn’t said anything about it. He didn’t want to risk their friendship.

“Hey there stranger!” He heard someone call, and looked up from his book. It was Jamie shouting to him, and, next to her, her wife Eve waved at him as well. Grinning, Lacy came running up to him.

“Mr. Bucky!” She shrilled with joy, as she clambered up onto the bench next to him. He put the bookmark into his book and set it on his lap.

“Hey, lacy!” he said to her as her moms walked up to him, “Hi Jamie, Eve.” He greeted them as they walked up, smiling.

“Hey, man.” Jamie said, stopping the stroller and sitting down on the bench along with Eve, “So, what’s rocking in your life? Still reading that book, I see. You like that stuff? I always thought those books were too slow-paced for me. The movies, though, now those are entertaining.” Jamie said in one breath, putting her arm around Eve’s waist.

Just in that moment Steve came running around a corner on the path, into view. He broke into a smile and slowed down as he neared the bench.

“Hey, Steve!” Bucky called out to him. Steve came up to the bench, stopping, out of breath.

“Hey, Buck.” Said the blond, “Ladies.” He nodded at them, then turned his attention to Lacy, “And your name is?” He asked her, crouching next to where she sat on the bench.

“Holy crap!” She exclaimed, “You’re Captain America! You’re almost as cool as Mr. Bucky!” Steve looked at Bucky, and Bucky smiled smugly in return. Usually Steve was the favorite among any group of people.

“Yep, I’m almost as cool as Mr. Bucky.” Steve said with total sincerity, this comment making Bucky blush,

“I’m Lacy.” Lacy said extending her left hand. Steve shook it with a nod and a smile. Kids excited him. “Oh, and those are my moms over there,” she pointed to where the two women sat on the bench, “Their names are Eve and Jamie.” She stated, proudly presenting her parents to the blond man standing before her. Steve turned toward Eve and Jamie,

“Hello Lacy’s moms.” He said, smiling with a twinkle in his eyes.

“Yes, hello.” Eve said, as surprised to be meeting Captain America as she’d been to meet Bucky Barnes.

“Hey.” Jamie said, always casual, “Good to meet you Cap. Can I call you that? I’d say it’s one of the cooler nicknames out there. Oh, and the one in the stroller is Joseph. Yep, little Joey. He’s ours as well.”

“Well, it was really great to meet you, but I should probably get going.” Steve said to everyone, “Say, Buck, I see that you’re on the third book. Think you can finish it by Friday, and then we can have a weekend long marathon of all the movies?”

“Yeah, that sounds great. See you later Steve.” Bucky responded, and Steve waved goodbye and continued running down the path. Bucky watched him go, as he usually did. Steve really was beautiful.

“So, have long have you been this head-over-heels for blondie over there?” Jamie asked Bucky as soon as Lacy had run off to play on the swings.

“What do you mean?” Bucky asked her,

“Oh, come on dude. It’s kinda obvious. Don’t you think Eve?” Eve only laughed and nodded. “Not only has my gay-dar been picking up strong vibes from you, but I can tell when someone is that much in love.”

“Oh.” Bucky said, flushing deeply and looking at the ground.

“That blush. That’s what really gives it away. So, has this been a thing since the WWII era, or is this more modern?” Jamie asked, grinning from ear to ear.

“It’s, um,” Bucky began, but then stopped, not able to say anything,

“Oh, I see. So, this has been a thing since forever, then” Jamie said, making Bucky blush even more ferociously red, “Well, don’t worry about us. We’ll keep your little crush a secret.” She said, waggling her eyebrows.

“Anyway,” Eve said, standing up and grabbing the stroller, “See ya around Mister.”

Bucky waved and they waved back as they strolled of down the pathway. Well crap then. Was he really that glaringly obvious? Bucky picked up his book and walked home.

* * *

The next afternoon, Steve had decided to skip his run. It’s not something he did often, as he liked to run and especially liked to run past Bucky in the park, as he’d been making a point of doing recently. However, on this particular Tuesday, he had more important things on his mind. He put on his brown leather jacket over a plaid shirt and khakis, quickly combing his hair before leaving his house. He thought (hoped, anyway) that he was looking sharp. He got onto his motorcycle and drove a relatively short distance until he’d found what he was looking for. He got out and walked into the sweet-smelling flower shop.

* * *

Bucky was sitting on his park bench as usual, reading. He was almost done with the final book in the trilogy. Maybe he and Steve could have that movie marathon sooner than Friday, he thought. Then the hairs on the back of his neck stood up suddenly. He stopped reading to listen: he heard heavy footsteps behind him, where there was no park path. They were slow, obviously attempting to be quiet, to go unnoticed. No one but him would have noticed it, but, he did notice. Someone was sneaking up on him. Bucky, extremely quickly, put the book down on the bench, stood up, and turned around in a single fluid motion. What he laid eyes on in that moment confused him so, so much:

“Steve? what are you doing?” He asked, addressing the blond man who was, at that moment, hiding his face behind a bouquet of flowers. Steve lowered the flowers from in front of his eyes, revealing the very extreme blush encompassing the whole of his face.

“...Eh, trying to ask you on a date, but-” He cut himself off, putting the flowers back in front of his face. He cringed at his own awkwardness. Despite causing him to become suddenly muscular and handsome, the super soldier serum did nothing to combat his extreme un-romance skills. Even all these years later, he stilled lacked that particular ability.

“Really?” Bucky asked incredulously, taking a few steps closer to Steve,

“Um, yeah…” Steve, trailed off, feeling the supreme embarrassment that came over him. He’d never actually done this before.

Slowly, tentatively, Bucky took another step forward, placing his hands over Steve’s around the bouquet of flowers, lowering them to chest-level. Bucky stared straight into Steve’s blue-green eyes, before leaning forward and kissing his best friend in the whole world. It was a beautiful kiss, the best that either had ever experienced. When it was over, they looked at each other in total amazement. Bucky smiled.

“So… should I take that as a yes, then?” Steve asked, raising his eyebrows.

“I’m thinking you probably should.” Bucky said, grinning widely, taking the bouquet in his left hand and wrapping his right arm around Steve’s waist. He picked up the book as they walked past the bench. Steve wrapped his left arm around Bucky’s shoulders, holding Bucky to him.

“So. Does this make us boyfriends then?” Steve asked,

“I suppose it does, doesn’t it?” Bucky replied, leaning into Steve as they strode down the path.

“Does that make us gay, then?” Steve asked. He barely knew anything about any of that, as it had only recently been it’d been mostly accepted within society, and Steve was a little slow on such things as that.

“I’d say more bisexual, though that’s just me.” Bucky responded.

“What’s that, both?” Steve asked,

“Yes, that’s exactly what it is.” Bucky said, resting his head on Steve’s shoulder,

“Well then, yeah, I suppose that’s what I am then.” Steve responded, resting his head on top of Bucky’s, “I’ve been in relationships with women. One anyway. And now, here I am, taking a man dancing.”

“You’re taking me dancing?” Bucky asked,

“You did say yes to a date, didn’t you?” Steve responded, squeezing Bucky’s shoulders.

“Yeah, I suppose I did.” Bucky said, as they came to Steve’s motorcycle, “Am I holding onto your waist then?” Bucky asked as Steve sat on the bike.

That’s exactly what you’re gonna do.” Steve responded, and with that, Bucky got on the bike behind him.

* * *

“You almost done, Steve?” Bucky asked impatiently, trying to crane his neck to see his left arm,

“Hold still, Buck.” Steve said, painting another stroke of green,

“Stevie, if you’re taking this long, I’d better look seriously gorgeous when you’re done.” Bucky said to Steve,

“Aw, Buck, you don’t think you look gorgeous now?” Steve made a puppy dog face in Bucky’s direction as he continued to focus on his paintbrush. Bucky tried to scowl, but was blushing too hard. That blush that still hadn’t gone away since long before Steve asked him out two years ago. “Annnnnnd… There. Done. Just give it a second, it’s supposedly quick-drying.”

“I’m just saying, it had better be washable.” Bucky responded, pouting like a child.

“C’mon, everyone’s gonna love it!” Steve said, grinning. “Okay, it should be dry now. You wanna see it?” Steve asked, and Bucky couldn’t help but smile at Steve’s hopeful excitement. Steve guided Bucky to the mirror with his hands over his eyes, then pulled them away. Bucky looked at his left shoulder, amazed. He’d really married an artist. Steve had taken the red star on Bucky’s metal arm, and transformed it into the star topper of a beautiful green Christmas tree. Bucky smiled.

“I love it.” He said, slipping a red Christmas sweater over his head. The left sleeve was cut out so that his entire metal arm was visible.

“Well, I love you.” Steve said, kissing Bucky quickly on the cheek,

“That was a bit cheesy, don’t you think?” Bucky said, smiling despite himself,

“Well, if it was, then so be it. It's Christmas. Now C’mon, we’re gonna be late.” Steve said, reminding Bucky of the festivities coming up. Bucky grabbed his car keys, and Steve grabbed the large bag full of gifts as they headed out the door of their apartment. On the way to the Christmas party, they picked up Sam and Natasha. Clint and his family were going to meet them there as well as Wanda and Vision. Tony and Rhodey had been invited as well, but they were almost certainly not going to show. Tony hadn’t even come to their wedding (though, the circumstances were a bit more tense right then than they were now).

“I can’t believe they invited all of the Avengers to their house,” Sam said, “I mean, man! The place is gonna be like a zoo! What with family, and superheroes and all that.”

“Did you seriously just call us superheroes?” Natasha asked him skeptically,

“Well, what else would you call us?” Sam retorted,

“Guys, relax, okay?” Steve said in the direction of the backseat, “It doesn’t matter what you call us. Besides, they know you guys pretty well by this point, and they don’t have too many other family members who they think will come.” After that the car got quiet for a moment. Most of Eve and Jamie’s families hadn’t accepted them when they got married, and even though some came around a little while after, some still wouldn’t talk to them. It was a bit of a sore subject.

“So, how ‘bout that Christmas tree on your arm there, Barnes?” Natasha asked, “Did Romeo over there paint that on for you?”

“Well, as a matter of fact, he did.” Bucky responded, “Ain’t that right, Romeo?” He nudged Steve in the shoulder. Steve chuckled. They pulled into the driveway of a large house completely covered with rainbow colored Christmas lights.

“What is this, Christmas Vacation?” Sam asked, looking at the house,

“What’s that?” Steve asked,

“You mean when I was making you watch a billion Christmas movies last year I didn’t make you see that one?! You’re gonna watch it. Tonight. Then tell me what you think. Got it?” Sam said, shocked that he’d forgotten about such a great movie.

“Give me a hand with these gifts will you, Sam?” Steve asked from the trunk of the car.

“Sure thing, in fact, I’ll take the whole thing.” Sam said, taking the bulging sack of gifts from Steve’s arms. Natasha was already at the door, knocking. Steve and Bucky followed a ways behind, with Sam bringing up the rear right behind them. The husbands held hands, Steve gripping Bucky’s cold, metal left hand, which had gotten even colder in the snow, in his warm flesh one. As they reached the door, it opened once again, and they stepped through, unzipping their coats once inside. After they’d gotten their coats off and hung them on the pole next to the door, they started to step fully within the house.

“Not so fast, boys.” Natasha smiled mischievously, “Take a look up, will you?” Hanging from a string above them was a whole lot of mistletoe. The string was held up by a pole in Natasha’s hands.

“Really, Nat?” Steve looked skeptically at her, “I never thought you’d stoop so low as to hang mistletoe above us on a fishing pole.” She just motioned up at the mistletoe expectantly. Sam laughed from behind them. Steve turned around, “Were you in on this, too?”

“No! I swear!” Sam grinned, “Okay... maybe just a little bit.”

“Well, I mean, any excuse to kiss my husband, right?” Steve asked, holding up his left hand and fluttering his ring finger, making the gold ring glint in the lights. He then pulled Bucky to him and they kissed.

“Ew! Grown-up kissing! Cut it out you two!” A nine-year-old voice said from the stairs. Steve and Bucky broke apart to look up and see red curls bouncing off the shoulders of a green Christmas dress.

“Lacy!” Steve, Bucky, Natasha and Sam all yelled in greeting from the bottom of the stairs. She scampered down the stairs.

“Uncle Bucky! Uncle Stevie!” Lacy yelled from within the bear hug she was receiving from Bucky and Steve.

“What, nothing for me?” Natasha asked Lacy once she was done hugging Steve and Bucky. Despite having only met her about a dozen times, Lacy had grown to love Nat. Nat just had a soft spot for kids, Steve guessed after seeing her with Clint's kids as well as Lacy.

“As usual, I am ignored.” Sam said, carrying the gifts in to put under the tree. However, he was smiling.

“I see Lacy found you before we did!” Jamie said, pulling Eve in by the waist, with Joe toddling in behind them, “Mr. Terrible Two’s over there has been causing lots of trouble with the delicate Christmas ornaments, haven’t you, Joe?” She turned to face her son. He just stared innocently back at her. Eve moved in to hug Bucky and then Steve.

“So glad you guys could make it. It just wouldn’t be Christmas without you!” She said.

“Well, let’s be honest here, where else would think to go for the holidays?” Steve said, raising his eyebrows at her. They all burst into laughter.

“Well? Come in, come in! CLose the door! It’s cold outside!” Jamie practically yelled in the most cheery way imaginable. They all crowded into the entryway and closed the door before quickly walking into the rest of the house.

* * *

Everything was set up on the table: the festive tablecloth, the roast beef, the good china. Almost everyone had sat down. Bucky was sitting on the right hand side of Steve. Their hands were resting on the table, clasped together. Jamie was hollering for Lacy to “please get down here right now for dinner!” but, other than them, everyone had sat down. Lacy dashed into the dining room, her dress nothing but a green blur as she plopped down in her seat.

“Oh, good, you’re here now, Lacy. Well, alrighty then. Let’s eat!” Jamie was absolutely Jolly (and maybe just a little bit tipsy) as she pulled out the chair for her seat at the ridiculously long table. Just as she was about to sit down, the doorbell rang. “Hmmm…” Jamie said, standing up again, “Everyone we thought was going to be here is here- Ooh! I wonder if it’s someone who didn’t say they’d come!” She was suddenly excited, jumping and leaping toward the doorway. They all heard it open and then Jamie’s shrieks. Eve got up and ran to the front door. Bucky stiffened next to Steve, and Steve squeezed his hand, in a way of telling him that everything was going to be alright.

Moments later, Eve and Jamie walked in with an older couple. Jamie was grinning, an expression of sheer joy, tears running down her face.

“Hey, everyone!” Jamie shouted toward the table “Meet my parents!” Many smiling faces greeted them as a few people got some more chairs and plates for Jamie’s parents. Everyone was in a great mood. Steve saw Eve’s parents shaking hands with Jamie’s, Jamie’s parents hugging Lacy and Joseph. Then, everyone sat down and started eating the food. Steve reached over and grabbed Bucky’s left arm, pulling it up and over his head, resting it around his shoulders. Bucky looked over at him.

“What?” Steve asked, smiling in a slightly confused way,

“Oh, nothing.” Bucky said, but by the look on his face Steve could tell that he was really happy about something. Steve had no idea why Bucky was so happy, but he decided to just go along with it, smiling and kissing his husband on the cheek.

Bucky checked his phone, and glanced across the table at Nat. She smiled with half her lips, putting her phone back into her pocket.

“Bucky…” Steve whined, “Why are you angling your phone away from me? What don’t you want me to see?”

“Really, Steve, it’s nothing. Relax, okay, it’s Christmas!” Bucky said, making Steve extremely suspicious of something.

“Buck. Honey. Please let me see what was on your phone. Pleeeeeease?” Steve begged, needing to know what his husband was hiding from him. Then, there was a sound. The doorbell rang. Then it rang again. And again. Ding dong ding dong ding ding ding dingding dong. Bucky couldn’t contain his grin. Across the table, Natasha was grinning too. “What… is going on?” Steve looked between his friend and his husband.

“Why don’t you go to the door and find out?” Natasha grinned slyly. Steve leaped out of his chair, knocking it to the ground, and ran to the door, opening it wide. His jaw went slack.

“Wow, Rogers, didn’t expect to see me, or what?! Oh, sorry, that’s right, it’s Barnes now. Sorry I didn’t make it to that, by the way, things between us were, well, sketchy at best. But anyway, Merry Christmas! YAY! Also, where’s the alcohol? I was under the impression there’d be alcohol at this party.”

“Tony?” Steve finally made out, completely flabbergasted.

“Um, well, yeah. Who else is this devilishly handsome? Come one, let’s be real here. Nobody is.”

“Oh my God, Tony, you came!” Steve rushed forward and threw his arms around Tony,

“Oh, wow, okay, we’re hugging now.” Tony said, awkwardly patting Steve on the back,

“Oh, God, Tony. You’re such an ass.” Steve whispered, still not letting go of Tony,

“Yeah, admittedly, you’re right. I am such an ass. Or, at least I have been. But, hey, I’m here now. That’s gotta count for something right?”

“Tony I missed you so much.” Steve said, letting go of tony and stepping back from his hug, crossing his arms, still completely shocked,

“Yeah, me too, actually. You can thank your little boyfriend- oops, caught myself! You can thank your little husband, as well as Nat for the rendezvous. Trust me, I’m too much of a coward to come on my own bidding. I had to be persuaded by both of them to even consider it.” Tony said, suddenly grinning, “In fact, there they are now!” He pointed behind Steve to where Bucky and Nat were walking up behind him, “Hey guys!” Tony waved at them as they came up next to Steve.

Bucky came up and put his right arm around Steve’s waist in support. Steve put his left arm protectively around Bucky’s shoulders.

“Oh, relax. I’m not here to do anything like that. In fact, I believe I asked for alcohol? Yeah, that’s right. I did ask for alcohol. See, I’m just here to party! Also, I brought presents. I know that’ll cheer you up.” He patted Steve’s chest and turned to walk out the door into the snow. There was a helicopter that had landed in the middle of the street. Steve stayed standing there with Bucky, watching as Tony climbed into the helicopter and emerged once again helping Rhodey step out. A few people that were (presumably) employed by Tony also stepped out of the helicopter carrying many, many wrapped boxes.

“Well I’ll be damned.” Steve said under his breath, kissing Bucky on the side of his head, “Thanks Buck. I can’t believe my eyes.”

As Tony helped Rhodey walk through the door, Rhodey smiled and said “Hey, guys.”

“Hey Rhodey.” Steve said hesitantly, “No hard feelings, right?”

“Oh, yeah, we’re over that now.” Tony spoke on a holier-than-thou tone of voice as he and Rhodey began to walk past the others, “By the way, Barnes - oh, not you, Steve, your husband - I like the little Christmas tree on your arm. Steve do that for you? I would give you a thumbs up, but, ya know, my hands are a little full right now.”

“Wow, thanks.” Rhodey rolled his eyes at Tony,

“Oh, Rhodey, you know I mean no offense. It’s not like I’m complaining or anything. I’m just saying that you’re rather heavy and I don’t like to have to carry you around all the time. I don’t mind it.” Tony spoke as they stepped into the dining room.

“Thanks, that helps so much, Tony, thanks.” Rhodey said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“So!” Tony said to the room at large, “Somebody point me to the adult beverages!”

* * *

“Hey, Bucky, thank you. You know I love you so much, right?” Steve said that night as they sat down on the couch to watch Christmas Vacation. Bucky curled up against Steve, with his head on Steve’s lap, looking up at him. The cats both strode into the room at the exact same time, ready to cuddle with their dads.

“Of course I do Steve. And, of course, I love you too. Merry Christmas.” Bucky said.

“Oh! Hang on! I actually almost forgot!” Steve exclaimed. Bucky sat up.

“What?” Bucky asked, looking quizzically at his husband,

“I can’t believe I almost forgot to give you your present!” Steve said, “Hang on just a second, it’s over here…” He reached into a drawer and pulled out a neatly-wrapped box, “Here. Open it. I hope you like it.”

Bucky unwrapped the package, and within it was a framed drawing, wrinkled, yellowed, and beginning to tear at the edges from age before it had been framed. It was of Steve and Bucky. It showed them together, side by side, just as friends. But it also showed a possibility, a hope, a desire, to become more than that. On the back, in Steve’s handwriting was written: Dear Bucky, I’ve been debating whether I was in love with you since the day I met you in 1930. I do. I love you so much, and, one of these days, I’m going to tell you so.

“I drew that the day after we watched Star Wars together. About a month before I asked you out,” Steve said, “I was saving it for an anniversary or something, but I guess Christmas is a good a time as ever to give it to you. Merry Christmas, Buck. I love you.”

Bucky kissed Steve on the lips, then placed the drawing on a nearby table, “Thank you, Steve. It’s beautiful.” He said. Then he curled up once more in Steve’s arms on the couch, and they fell asleep holding each other.


End file.
